SOMEHOW he survived a siege. Somehow Grigor Dimitrov held off the fierce hitting of Alexandr Dolgopolov to make it into the dangerous territory of Andy Murray's half of the draw.

Grigor Dimitrov battled through to win in five sets to advance to the second week[PA]

The Bulgarian stood up to some brutal play from an opponent who exploded 19 aces, detonating his first service at a shuddering 130mph.

He could have been excused for asking 'who let the dog out'? That is the nickname of the man from Ukraine and, when he led by two sets to one, it appeared that Dimitrov could not recover from such a savaging.

But the boyfriend of Maria Sharapova is made of sterner stuff these days. On to his artistic ability he has grafted hard muscle and a higher level of fitness.

And it was he who came through after 2 hours 55 mins to win 6-7, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.

He has also taken on some of Sharapova's fierce competitive edge. There is no greater committed player in women's sport, than La Shazza who seems to have introduced to her partner a fiercer more snarling approach to being behind in matches.

It has rubbed off impressively, The dog with his hair in a pony tail found at the end of the marathon that Dimitrov was off the leash. He allowed him just four points, broke his service three times and outplayed him.

It appears he is suitably equipped to do some damage in this draw, emerging as the player nobody wants when he is so hot.

France's Jeremy Chardy needed four sets to see off Sergiy Stakhovsky in the third round, while 19th seed Feliciano Lopez eased past Ante Pavic in straight sets in second-round action.